New Names and Faces, Same Mission and Spaces

I have been in this green space for 23 years. From the very beginning I knew it was special. My feet had never felt so grounded as when I stepped onto this 16-acre plot with its mostly scraggy and shaggy fields where weeds and thorns had overtaken pasture grass, and its mostly stagnant pond in the back corner that was losing its battle against erosion. It still welcomed deer and hosted some water fowl, but it hosted even more broken, rusted bones of farm equipment. This space needed new investment, TLC, and re-directed purpose; but it was then, as it is now, a space that exudes divine presence.

I was inspired! I tested my soil’s ph, learned about local grasses and over-seeding; I studied barn design and fencing of all kinds, seeking safety for livestock and wildlife alike. With every project I tried to listen to what the natural environment was teaching me. I walked the property regularly with my kids. In just one day of novice ornithology, we spotted 42 species of birds. We cleaned up the pond and raised a small flock of ducks (more or less successfully released, more or less a red fox family’s feast). Chickens, bunnies, goats, cats and kittens, dogs and puppies, horses and foals...births, and deaths...all part of the “agra-balance” of this place.

But the agrarian cycle—cultivation to harvest, labor to fruit, dormancy to new life—means very little without the human element, without a conscious connection to community, to friends and neighbors. We know all too well that life can be difficult and disappointing, and we know we need spaces where we can rest, breathe, and be restored...”re-balanced” in body, mind, and soul. From the beginning, this farm has been such a healing space, a divine gift, for many visitors, and those visitors have been a divine gift to this farm. That has always been the mission, the intentional rhythm, the natural liturgy of these Gracious Spaces.

Over the years, thousands of people have come here in small groups or with partnership organizations like No More Sidelines or Samaritan’s Carriage, and we happily welcome you all!! We have developed connections to widely diverse agencies, organizations, and families throughout southwest Michigan, concentrating now on new partners in Kent county to serve as many local residents as possible. Look back at some earlier blogs to see a bit of our history illustrated with photos and videos. Take special note of the blog about Tim Van Noord.

Tim was in the late stages of ALS and had little interest in leaving his house.....but he LOVED Jazz! It did indeed take a team to get him to the concert at the farm that July night. He was surrounded by kids playing yard games and people dancing and laughing...music all

around....and, he was a part of the community again. He watched the full moon rise over the

band and he could see it through shuttle bus window the whole ride — he said, “It was as if

that huge moon and all the joy of that night were following me home.”

Come be my guest in this Gracious Space of joy and gratitude, and let it follow you home!!!